title: Ropinirole versus bromocriptine in the treatment of early Parkinson's disease: a 6-month interim report of a 3-year study. 053 Study Group.
abstract: We compared the efficacy and safety of ropinirole with that of bromocriptine after 6 months of treatment in a planned interim analysis of a 3-year, double-blind, randomized, multicenter study of 335 patients with early Parkinson's disease requiring dopaminergic therapy. Patients, treated with or without selegiline, received either ropinirole or bromocriptine. The mean Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) total motor examination scores (Part III) at baseline were similar in the four strata. Overall, and in the non-selegiline subgroup, the percentage improvement in the UPDRS total motor examination score was significantly higher for ropinirole than for bromocriptine, as was the proportion of "responders." In the selegiline subgroup, however, there was no significant difference between treatments. Similarly, in the non-selegiline subgroup, there was a significantly higher proportion of "improvers" on the Clinical Global Impression scale with ropinirole than with bromocriptine, whereas in the selegiline subgroup, there was no significant difference. Emergent adverse events occurred in 80% of patients in both treatment groups, the principal symptom in each group being nausea. The incidence of serious adverse events was low (3% for ropinirole, 6.6% for bromocriptine). The data indicate that (a) in the absence of selegiline, ropinirole is effective and superior to bromocriptine; and (b) selegiline does not affect the response in patients treated with ropinirole, but enhances the effects of bromocriptine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Korczyn
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: E R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Brunt
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Poewe
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rascol
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Stocchi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001971:Bromocriptine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D018450:Disease Progression; D018491:Dopamine Agonists / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007211:Indoles / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012642:Selegiline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents; D018491:Dopamine Agonists; D007211:Indoles; C046649:ropinirole; D012642:Selegiline; D001971:Bromocriptine